Why Geopolitics Looms Over Eurovision but Not Its Asian Edition

Rules cannot keep politics away

Eurovision organizers describe the contest as nonpolitical and set rules for lyrics, political symbols and broadcasts. Still, international conflicts have affected who performs, who withdraws and what broadcasters are willing to air.

The European edition offers several examples of those tensions. They show how difficult it can be to keep political disputes out of a major music contest.

Disputes shape European entries

In 2009, Georgia planned to enter “We Don’t Wanna Put In,” a disco song seen as a reference to Vladimir Putin, then Russia’s prime minister. Organizers said the apparent dig had to be removed, and Georgia withdrew rather than change the song.

Asian contest faces different backdrop

The contest was preparing to expand into Asia for the first time, and geopolitics had not really been a factor in that expansion. Eleven Asian countries sent artists to Saturday’s show.

Those countries have considerable geopolitical friction offstage. The European experience underscores how challenging it may be to keep such tensions separate from the contest.